Policy on copyright, licensing and translations

The copyright of ICPC, both in hard copy and in electronic form, is owned by Wonca.

The non-commercial user is free to use ICPC-2e.

If ICPC-2e is to be used for commercial purposes or in national/local coding systems, it will be necessary to negotiate with Wonca about user fees. In that case, please contact the CEO of Wonca (ceo@wonca.com.sg).

In the following the copyright and licensing policy as well as the translation policy related to the electronic version (ICPC-2e) is stated:

Aims OF THE POLICY

To allow the Wonca Classification Committee to promote, distribute, and support ICPC-2, and further develop it as the best classification for primary care.

To maintain international comparability of versions of ICPC-2.

To obtain feedback and maintain a clearing-house of international experiences with ICPC-2.

To achieve recognition of Wonca's initiative and expertise in classification.

To promote understanding of appropriate links between ICPC-2 and other classification and coding systems, particularly ICD-10.

To encourage use of ICPC-2 rather than inhibit it with restrictions.

To obtain financial support to enable achievement of these aims and allow the work of the Wonca Classification Committee to continue and expand.

copyright and licensing Policy

The electronic version of ICPC-2 should be made available in as many countries as possible.

Versions involving additions, translations, or alterations should be made with input from and agreement of the Wonca Classification Committee if they are to be regarded as official Wonca versions.

Wonca should licence appropriate organizations to promote and distribute electronic versions of ICPC-2 in countries, regions, and language groups.

Licence fees may be charged through these organizations to the end users and collected by the distributors for Wonca. The fees will be set by negotiation and may be waived when there are advantages to Wonca by so doing, such as when use is for research or development.

Translation policy

Wonca is an international organization and wishes to promote versions of ICPC in languages other than English, which is the working language of the Classification Committee. ICPC (the first version) has already been translated into 19 languages, and has been published as a book in some of these. There are already several translations of ICPC-2 being undertaken. The committee encourages anyone wishing to promote, assist with, or undertake translations of ICPC-2 to contact them to arrange cooperative work.

The Wonca policy on ICPC-2 translations is:

Wonca encourages versions in languages other than English.

These must include the whole book, not just the rubrics.

There must be no changes to the rubrics. Any extensions must be clearly indicated as such, and approved by the Wonca Classification Committee (WICC) prior to publication.

Translations must be prepared by named translators working in cooperation with the Wonca Classification Committee and to the standards that it sets, particularly in relation to the extent of back translation for checking which may be required.

While Wonca will retain the copyright it will usually grant without fee the rights to translating organizations to retain royalties on their versions. This will require a formal agreement between Wonca and the organization or publisher concerned.